This Pollution Report (POLREP) provides an update on cleanup work at the Apco Mossberg Company, Inc. Superfund Site, located at 100-101 Lamb Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The 11-acre property was a former automobile-parts manufacturing facility.
This removal action addresses heavy metal (lead, cadmium, and barium) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in surface soils and debris piles on and around the former manufacturing building foundation. The cleanup also addresses the presence of compressed gas cylinders identified on-site.
The available data indicates that these hazardous materials are linked to former manufacturing activities conducted on the property between 1900 and 1987.
Beginning in late March, EPA clean-up workers have been screening the rubble piles on the foundation pad to remove the contaminated soils and fine materials. Excavation of contaminated surface soils from the foundation floor is nearly complete. Workers are beginning to excavate contaminated soils in the wooded area approximately 200 feet north of the foundation footprint.
Approximately 730 tons of contaminated screened soils and 1,600 tons of contaminated foundation soils have been excavated thus far. These soils will be removed from the site and disposed of at EPA-approved facilities. Excavated areas will be backfilled with clean materials and disturbed areas will be revegetated.
Composite soil samples obtained from the excavation floors and perimeters are being sent to EPA's New England Regional Laboratory (NERL) in Chelmsford, Mass. for analysis. Analytical results for these post-excavation soil samples are being used to verify when cleanup levels have been attained.
EPA continues to conduct air monitoring and dust suppression activities to ensure that the cleanup activities do not impact the air quality of nearby residents or pedestrians in the vicinity of the work area. Covering stockpiled wastes with heavy tarps and decontaminating vehicles and equipment before moving off-site ensures that contaminated soil is not being tracked or spread beyond the work area.
EPA continues to implement the Erosion, Sediment, and Stormwater Control Plan and Dust Control Plan (ESS&D Plan) for the site, to minimize environmental impacts due to wind erosion and runoff (rain and snowmelt) events.
In late May EPA will begin transporting contaminated soils and waste materials off-site to permitted disposal facilities. To minimize the impact to the community during this period of heavy truck traffic, EPA, in coordination with the Attleboro Police and Fire Departments, has developed a traffic control plan. The plan includes the following:
Posting flaggers at intersections near the site when heavy trucks are entering and exiting the work area to ensure the safety of nearby residents and pedestrians, cleanup crew, and passing vehicles.
Limiting weekday heavy truck traffic before 8:00 a.m. and after 2:00 p.m. to avoid school buses and heavy commuter traffic. In addition, trucks will be routed away from the center of town.
Washing truck tires and inspecting vehicles before they leave the site to ensure that contaminated materials are not being tracked beyond the work area.
EPA, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP), and the City of Attleboro continue to implement the community involvement plan for the site. At a recent public meeting at Attleboro City Hall attended by 15 community members, EPA and the City of Attleboro discussed the ongoing cleanup work at the site.
OSC Morash continues to share the site biweekly air monitoring reports with the City of Attleboro Health Department.
OSC Morash continues to regularly leaflet the neighborhood and disseminate progress reports. OSC Morash also works with the EPA Press Office to publish press releases in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle with updates on cleanup activities.
Action Memorandum Addendum #1 for the site was signed on May 11, 2005, providing a total project ceiling increase of $1,380,000 to address cadmium-contaminated surface soils in former waste chemical storage lagoons in the wooded area northwest of the manufacturing building foundation. A change in scope for the response action was also authorized to remove and dispose of metal wastes in chemical plating vats and other miscellaneous containers, recently discovered during removal activities in April 2005.
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